Wasp's Billy Vunipola offloads the ball as he is tackled by Bath's Stuart Hooper during their Premiership match at The Recreation Ground. Photograph: Tim Ireland/PA

Not even the gods, who have inflicted such cruelty on Wasps already this season, can get any crueller. Surely. Well, they could – and if Wasps do go down, if they do subside into liquidation, if they do simply cease to be, they will weep long and hard over events at the Rec on 21 April 2012.

Mind you, at least they came away with a losing bonus point, which gives them a much-better-than-evens chance of finishing above Newcastle, the visitors to Adams Park for Wasps' last game of the season in a fortnight.

The precious point moves them four clear of the Falcons at the bottom of the Premiership, which means a bonus point in a fortnight will almost certainly secure their safety – in terms of the rugby, at least. And if they cannot manage one of those, preventing Newcastle from getting one in victory would also do, provided they do not lose by more than 23 points.

But enough of 5 May; events here are quite enough to be getting on with. Could it be those gods have decreed that a premature celebration by Sam Vesty, once of Leicester, should prove the difference between Wasps' survival and oblivion? Vesty had thought he was through for Bath's bonus-point try with two minutes to go, and he punched the air 10 yards shy of the line. But his old team-mate from Leicester, Tom Varndell, hared after him and, with a superhuman effort, managed not only to tackle him, but to turn him.

The fun did not stop there. Wasps waited in agony for the TV verdict. A try would mean they lost even the bonus point, making Newcastle's task in a fortnight eminently realistic.

Eventually, the screen kicked into life. "Try!" was the verdict and the crowd went wild; Wasps were shellshocked. The referee, Dave Pearson, however, was frantically upset about something. He gesticulated wildly at no one in particular, shaking his head, waving his hands. Then the screen sprung into life again, "No try!" the verdict this time. It seemed the guy operating the try and no-try buttons had pressed the wrong one, with a club's future hanging in the balance. You couldn't make it up, as they say.

Even without the extraordinary scenes at the end, this was an exercise in cruelty to a side manned by six players aged 21 or younger. It should have been seven, but Elliot Daly became Wasps' umpteenth injury of the season. At least his replacement, Chris Mayor, brought an extra 10 years to the party, raising the average age of the team by eight months on his own. And Mayor's not yet 30.

Nevertheless, the youngsters were full of wit and determination in the first half, with Joe Launchbury putting in a remarkable shift from start to finish. Nicky Robinson, excellent in that first 40, slotted over three penalties to open up a 9-0 lead at the break. Wasps could almost touch their safety.

Bath had been woeful, devoid of snap, but that all changed in the second half. Suddenly, large gaps opened up in the Wasps defence and through surged Bath's runners. Lee Mears went past Ben Broster and over for the first try. Then Stephen Donald ran clean past Jonathan Poff, who was promptly hauled off, and Bath had an unlikely lead 15 minutes into the second half.

A yellow card for Dom Waldouck put Wasps under pressure in the final quarter and Nick Abendanon's try, with seven minutes remaining, moved Bath eight points clear and left Wasps horribly vulnerable. Robinson's fourth penalty three minutes later moved Wasps back into the sanctuary of bonus-point range and set up the drama of the dying moments.

That point will surely be enough now, but we should not put it past those gods to come up with some sort of drama in a fortnight's time.